WASHINGTON – DEA
Administrator Karen P. Tandy and Assistant Attorney General Alice S.
Fisher of the Criminal Division today announced over 130 arrests as
part of an international operation targeting the trafficking of black
tar heroin in the United States.

The multi-state
investigation, called “Operation Black Gold Rush,” included
arrests in 15 U.S. cities and 10 indictments in eight federal judicial
districts, along with state charges. More than 17 kilograms of black
tar heroin – a potent form of heroin that is dark and sticky
in appearance -- were also seized in the operation.

“Operation
Black Gold Rush exposed a network of over 100 illegal aliens who controlled
a pipeline of heroin operating from Nayarit, Mexico to Nashville, Tennessee
and at least 14 cities in between,” said DEA Administrator Karen
P. Tandy. “Today, DEA ruptured that pipeline, stopping the flow
of heroin to our streets.”

As of 3 p.m. today,
a total of 138 people have been arrested on federal and state charges
in connection with the operation. In the Southern District of Indiana,
an indictment charges 13 defendants with conspiracy to distribute one
kilogram or more of heroin. Additionally, 15 individuals have been
charged in the state of Indiana, 28 individuals have been arrested
and indicted in Ohio, 47 individuals in Tennessee, seven in Colorado
and 11 individuals in North Carolina. On Aug. 2, 2006, a federal grand
jury in the District of South Carolina returned two indictments charging
26 individuals with drug-related offenses.

" As this operation
demonstrates, the Department of Justice is as committed as ever to
eradicating the flood of illegal and dangerous narcotics like black
tar heroin,” said Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher
of the Criminal Division. “Law enforcement across the country
will continue to work diligently to shut down these operations and
keep our neighborhoods free of the poison being spread by these criminals.”

“ Operation
Black Gold Rush” started with a single seizure of heroin. This
DEA-led investigation, which began in November 2005, involved the cooperative
efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Members
of the trafficking organization charged in the indictments are alleged
to have been responsible for importing and distributing approximately
10 to 15 kilograms of black tar heroin monthly from Mexico into the
United States – which could be sold at an estimated street value
of more than $3 million. The organization allegedly used illegal aliens
as couriers, who were part of a “call and deliver” system
of drug distribution whereby a customer could have his heroin literally
delivered to the front door. The illicit proceeds were allegedly laundered
by the organization’s financial managers using a combination
of wire remitters and bulk currency transport.

To date, the government
has seized more than $500,000 in cash representing illegal proceeds
from this operation -- $260,000 prior to today and $250,000 today alone.

“Operation
Black Gold Rush” is a joint investigation involving operations
in 15 cities – Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville in Tennessee;
Indianapolis; Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio; Denver; Los Angeles and
Riverside, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbia, Greenville,
Charleston and Florence in South Carolina; and Phoenix, Arizona. The
also investigation involved eight U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the
Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, Special
Operations Division, and the Justice Department’s Organized Crime
and Drug Enforcement Task Force, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives, and various state and local law enforcement
agencies.